Spooktober Stories: Don Lumo

According to Danos tradition, one should not be coerced into a marriage, but among the wealthy, rules were often broken. Don wouldn't have said he was coerced, exactly, but the marriage to Jo was arranged by his parents, and as they barely knew each other when the wedding ceremony began.
She was a soldier, the child of one of his parents' generals. They even married in their armor. His father said it was a sign of strength to the province--that the family would contintue to prosper and to defend Crashwine from the other provinces. He wished he could have married alongside his brother, as many siblings did, but his brother had abandoned the family--chosen a Xurugwi bride and moved to Harthang. But he had always been contrary.
"Where's your pendant?" Don had asked him after his coming-of-age ceremony. It should have ended in him receiving a charm to add to a bracelet or necklace.
But his brother gave him a crafty smile. "I've hidden it in one of the secret compartment. If you discover it, I'll don it." His brother had always sworn the house had secret hiding places. He'd shown Don one once--in the fountain in the greenhouse. But Don had never found any others. Even today, he didn't know if he to stupid to find them or if his brother had been lying all along.
As the tea ceremony ended, he realized Jo reminded him of his brother. Perhaps this was why his father had chosen her. She smiled in that same way he did, as if the whole world was a puzzle she could solve. After the party, they returned to Don's home. She spread her arms wide and let herself fall onto the bed, taking up as much space as she could.
"I hate ceremony," she said, "don't you?" It was just the sort of thing his brother would have said. Then she began to wiggle the ring from her finger.
Whatever hope Don had of their marriage going well, it now vanished. "You... didn't want to marry?" he asked. It would not look good for their province if their leaders divorced soon after their marriage.
Her laugh was so light it could float. "I'm just taking it off for safe keeping. We're supposed to be warriors, right? A ring seems like an odd accessory. I think I'll keep it... here." She reached a delicate finger to the center of a sun carving on the bed and pressed. The wood sank inward about a centimeter, and then a circle of wood bearing the entire sun carving slid out, revealing a small box.
Don blinked. "I've been sleeping in this bed for years, and I never noticed that."
That light, floating laugh again. "I love secrets."
He felt his lips curling up in a smile. "In that case, we might get along perfectly." He leaned down to kiss her, and she kissed back.